


why didnt anyone mention snow is so painful to fall into

by LogicalParafox



Series: loving you feels like the end of the world because its literally the apocalypse [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:48:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27429706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LogicalParafox/pseuds/LogicalParafox
Summary: The apocalypse was cancelled but Dave and Dirk, though drift compatible and Jaeger Academy trained were discharged and never assigned to a Jaeger. What do two retired PPDC marshals do when the world has already been saved?
Relationships: Dave Strider/Dirk Strider
Series: loving you feels like the end of the world because its literally the apocalypse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2003983
Kudos: 7





	why didnt anyone mention snow is so painful to fall into

It said something about the destructive power of Kaiju that setting off a nuclear bomb in the ocean was hailed as a great feat of heroism. Amusingly enough, the subsequent tsunami did considerable damage to the Kaiju defense wall, proving definitively in Dave’s mind that that thing had always been a shitty pile of useless concrete and human lives.

People wandered the streets, unsure whether to celebrate or mourn. According to the lone pair of surviving pilots, the Breach had been destroyed; the Kaiju war ending with a bang after the world had been told to embrace this new reality of constant batterings and cowering behind the trash fence.

* * *

To say that people were happy understated things considerably. Still, the last two Jaegers had been destroyed, yet more pilots sacrificing their lives to end the existential threat to humanity…

Dave knew it was selfish to be jealous. Better to celebrate like some of the rest or mourn the brave sacrifices and countless thousands dead in the double attack that had nearly ruined any chance humanity still had of turning back the tide.

Feathery Assholes was a victim of that attack, flattened by Kaiju or Jaegers. It didn’t really matter which when all was said and done. Crushed was crushed was crushed.

Dave and Dirk and their customers and staff had evacuated when the sirens went off, huddling in the shelters that Dave and Dirk both knew to be woefully inadequate if a Kaiju actually focused on their destruction.

Still, they had survived. Still had pensions even as the UN hurriedly reversed course, praising the PPDC they had shuttered and abandoned as true heroes. Dave and Dirk had more than enough to move somewhere drier and decide what to do next with their lives.

* * *

“Is there even anything to pack?” Dave asked, his hands thrust in his pockets as he watched the feverish activity of the black marketeers harvesting what was left of Otachi, their swarming frantic as they dealt with the fact that this was the final Kaiju corpse they would be able to harvest. Massive ships had hauled away what was left of Leatherback and the three that had been out by the now-annihlated Breach were well out of reach and highly radioactive now to boot.

“Just the clothes on our backs and pensions boosted enough to let us start over wherever your heart desires.”

Dave sighed and kicked a chunk of debris, watching it rock slightly, as unmoved by his desires as the rest of the damn world. “What’s the point?”

Dirk snorted and wrapped a hand around the back of Dave’s neck. “Cheer up, Pentecost cancelled the apocalypse and we’ve got our whole lives ahead of us. Sure we never fought on the front lines for humanity but we did our part, sacrificed a lot. Let’s take a vacation and figure something out while getting badly sunburned on a beach somewhere.”

“Iceland,” Dave threw out.

Dirk snorted. “Don’t want to rub sunscreen on my back?”

“Don’t want to watch you peel off another sunburn like a molting snake.”

“Fair enough. How about somewhere inland? Sit by a lake that has never known Kaiju and maybe hike?”

“We’d _die_ in the mountains,” Dave said matter-of-factly. “I don’t think I’ve ever been much above sea level except in a plane.”

“So we take a few weeks to acclimate and then we go sledding and roll around in the snow.”

“Hot cocoa and marshmallows?”

“The works.”

* * *

“What complete asshole thought this was a good idea?” Dirk groaned as Dave helped him out of another snowdrift.

“You did,” Dave teased, brushing snow off of Dirk’s helmet.

“I didn’t think it would hurt so much to fall into, it looks so soft and fluffy in movies and pictures.”

“Travel truly broadens your horizons. If you can stay upright for more than thirty seconds we might make it back to the lodge before dark and we can see how many bruises you have today.”

“I still think you’re lying about never having done this before,” Dirk grumbled as he wearily wiggled his snowboard until the nose pointed downhill once more.

“Shoulda taken the skateboard lessons when I offered,” Dave teased.

With a grumble Dirk got his board pointed more or less in the right direction and wobbled off down the mild slope. Dave banked after him, keeping close in case Dirk actually hurt himself with one of these falls, inwardly debating if filming him on the sly was too mean.

* * *

Dirk groaned under Dave, back muscles twitching.

“Stop being such a baby,” Dave ordered.

“Everything’s sore!” Dirk complained as Dave focused on a particularly bad knot near Dirk’s shoulder.

Dirk whimpered, then sighed as the tension eased, going limp and boneless under Dave. His back really was bruised, spreading purplish patches to compliment those fading to green and yellow.

Dave flopped onto his back on the bed, watching Dirk’s face. “Still alive?”

“Probably,” Dirk grumbled, not bothering to open his eyes.

“You’ll be fine,” Dave assured him. “We can even take the day off of snowboarding tomorrow. Would you rather hike or snuggle in front of the fire?”

Dirk picked his head up at that, propping his chin on his arm as he looked over at Dave slyly. “Can we look for our next home?”

Dave sighed and rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. “…I miss the coast… I miss Texas. I miss flat and hot.”

Dirk chuckled. “Well on the gulf coast they never bothered putting up a wall, we could look for places there for a start, get somewhere before the cowardly rich folk who retreated far inland for protection snap up everywhere with a view.”

Dave looked over at Dirk. “You’re sure you’re done adventuring?”

“Having a home base doesn’t mean we have to live there forever and always, Dave,” Dirk said, exasperated. “I’ll get you rock climbing eventually.”

Dave snorted. “Have you actually tried that before or will this be snowboarding via your face 2.0?”

Dirk rolled his eyes. “My face is practically the only thing that ISN’T bruised.”

“Because we’re wearing helmets and goggles and puffy jackets so everything else hits first.”

“True. But I have been rock climbing before.”

“Then maybe. Having a home again….” Dave sighed and reached out to take Dirk’s hand, his own still warm and slippery with massage oil. “I don’t know if I know how to relax any more.”

“You know you don’t have to relax if you don’t want to. We can find a place, hire someone to furnish it for us, then look up your friend Jade and see what she’s up to. I’m sure she’ll have some private island where she’s making dinosaurs or something if she got anything like the pension plan we did.”

Dave shuddered. “All jungle and no people and living in the forest like a feral wolf.”

“We’ll bring steaks and throw them so we can gain entry without her biting us.”

Dave grinned. He could picture it now, somewhat, a little hazy and unfamiliar but growing more possible all the time. He moved closer to Dirk, their shoulders touching now. “….Do we really deserve a happily ever after?” he whispered.

Dirk leaned in and kissed him, eyes closed. His mouth was warm and familiar and gentle. Dirk’s arm wrapped around Dave’s waist as he pulled him in, hugging him close as he kissed them both breathless, opening orange eyes and meeting Dave’s red ones, panting a little.

“We made our choices, our sacrifices. We were ready as all of the Rangers were to die in the fight, to go down swinging for humanity. We stood together on the edge of that cliff with clear eyes and clear choices and I know that it feels scarier to step back from that edge and go about our lives…” Dirk pulled back a little so he could see Dave’s whole face. “But of course we deserve this. Of course we do.”

“But-”

Dirk kissed him again, hard this time, then pulled back again, laying a finger against Dave’s lips. “I know it’s hard to accept, but if our names had been called and we’d been in one of those Jaegers, would you want the Rangers left behind to never enjoy themselves again? Of course not. They fought for us to live as we would have fought for them to live. I know for damn sure if we had gone down and blasted the Breach apart I would have done it so that people like us could live peaceful lives. I’m taking the life they gave us, Dave, and you’re coming with me.”

Dirk smiled and wiped Dave’s eyes. “We survived the apocalypse, love, it’s time to fucking celebrate.”


End file.
